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Rains winds tornados floods and fires
each with fierce sounds and music.
And daily chores at home:
waking cooking cleaning.
Soap, rinse, repeat.
Armies and navies, too,
brave the weather,
Survive kill die.
Soap, rinse, repeat.
Rinse and repeat.
Is it different when we fast and pray for Light?
or when a woman secrets a sprig of lavender
into her friend’s place setting at lunch?
The blessing and the curse:
cycles continuing unchanged
with small moments of delight
and large expanses of prayer
hoping everything is alright
when it isn't
but lavender continues to grow.
For the new "What's Going On" blog!
My blog poems are rough drafts.
Please respect my copyright.
© 2023 Susan L. Chast
We need lavender, to calm our shattered nerves. I live with this dichotomy, my life going peacefully along, while so much is awry in the world. You capture this so well.
ReplyDeleteYes, cycles do continue unchanged, and we are thankful for all of the special moments and also for prayers. And lavender does live on!! I really love its calming scent, so I am thankful for that!
ReplyDeleteImagine having a sprig of lavender secreted into a table setting .. What A lovely idea !There is a certain security in daily task in a world gone awry !
ReplyDeleteThere was a deep breath at the end that spoke to the challenge of the cycles and the wonder of their continuing.
ReplyDeleteTruly need those friends with sprigs of lavender... we're all "hoping everything is alright / when it isn't "... this resonates a lot...
ReplyDelete"with small moments of delight
ReplyDeleteand large expanses of prayer"....How we all long for this space! Lavender too seems to be a part of the prayer.
I love the lavender gift - it's the small things that make the day brighter.
ReplyDeleteSorry this is Truedessa
Deletehoping everything is alright
ReplyDeletewhen it isn't
but lavender continues to grow.
There is always that element that continues to move on and progress at its own pace giving life to things around it! Great seeing you Susan, Ma'am!
Hank
Your poem is a gift ~~ a lovely, deep hue (as is lavender) ~~ thank you.
ReplyDeleteEric here. Oh to rest in that large expanse of prayer! So needed nowadays
ReplyDeleteSusan,
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the scent of lavendar and its visual pleasure. Always a reminder of warm summer days spent on holidays in France with my family.
Lavender has such a calming presence when in home bouquets; its colour soft, gentle and inspiring..A lovely poem...
Susan, this comment was left by me, Eileen T O'Neill, last night. Some issue with Blogger and settings; I hope, now fixed, Eileen
Delete'hoping everything is all right when it isn't.' We probably all feel like that. More and more often.
ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheartedly that lavender is important – it helps me sleep and keeps the bugs at bay. I have two pots full of it on my patio. I love the way you list all of the thigs that create stress and then introduce the line:
ReplyDelete‘…when a woman secrets a sprig of lavender
into her friend’s place setting at lunch’.
Bring on those small moments of delight!
Pearl here... I love love love lavender and am actually inhaling your poem and its sweet promise. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteThis is exquisitely drawn, Susan! I can sense the underlying conviction in this poem especially in these lines; "Is it different when we fast and pray for Light?
ReplyDeleteor when a woman secrets a sprig of lavender into her friend’s place setting at lunch?" Sigh .. ❤️❤️
I love lavender! I can never help picking a sprig if I pass a lavender bush, I just adore the smell. Enjoyed your poem, especially these lines:
ReplyDelete"The blessing and the curse:
cycles continuing unchanged
with small moments of delight
and large expanses of prayer
hoping everything is alright
when it isn't
but lavender continues to grow."
A beautiful poem and piece of lavender, too!
ReplyDeleteI am not anonymous, I am annell.
ReplyDeleteI am not anonymous, and will have to learn more. annell
ReplyDeleteSuch a fine portrayal of the greater moment, cycles worsening like climate, small gestures of belief laid gently as prayer. So in the godless infinite we lay lavender and smile.
ReplyDeleteWash, rinse, and repeat....so thankful there is still lavender growing. Peaceful petals of hope
ReplyDelete